There will still be days like yesterday
We're all familiar with the tiny little fundamentalist Christian group known as Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas. They consist mainly of the Phelps family, led by their patriarch, Fred Phelps, and they are most famous for demonstrating at the funerals of dead soldiers killed in the war as well as prominent people, including victims of terrorism, and carrying signs that proclaim GOD HATES FAGS and such gentle comfort. Their belief is that God so hates gays that he is inflicting his wrath on this nation for tolerating their existence that he does such things as kills soldiers for defending America. I don't know if they plan to show up at the funerals for the victims of the shooting in Connecticut, but I wouldn't put it past them.
Several states have written laws to prevent this pathetic little band of misfits from picketing at funerals, and they have also been sued for causing emotional distress. However, the courts have been circumspect about infringing on their right to express their opinions, and they were successful in defending themselves against the lawsuit. The rights of the people to express themselves, no matter how execrable their opinions are, cannot lightly be infringed.
Many if not all other Christian denominations have been swift to condemn the Westboro Baptist interpretation of the Bible, and they are equally horrified to see the name of their God libeled in such a way. Of course, not all Christians believe what they do and it would be unfair to tar them with the broad brush of bigotry and homophobia. And even as there are milder versions of the Phelps theology out there edging into the mainstream, they are still not representative of the vast number of Christians who are loving, kind, gay-friendly, or LGBT themselves.
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